I’m Lee Burgess, long-time California bar exam tutor and a creator of the Bar Exam Toolbox. If you recently found out you failed the California bar exam, you’re in the right place.
As I know from working with numerous students over the past 7 years, getting disappointing bar results is a blow — a big blow. It’s normal to be upset, frustrated, angry, scared, panicked, embarrassed — you name it!
But failing the bar exam isn’t the end of the world. Really, it’s not.
With appropriate help, you can regroup and pass on the next try. I know it’s possible, because I’ve seen many students do exactly that!
How We Can Help
Here at the Bar Exam Toolbox, we believe that every student is an individual and we know that different people need and want (and can afford) different levels of assistance. If you’re interested in one-on-one bar tutoring, please take a look at our full packages and contact us for more details.
Retaking the Bar Exam
If you are seeking help after a bar failure, it is crucial that you work with someone who can effectively evaluate what went wrong in your previous bar experience(s) and empower you to be successful in the future.
We believe students are empowered by learning the best way to study based on their individual needs, by getting detailed and constructive feedback, and by practicing and improving the skills necessary to be successful on exam day.
Because we know that bar takers have different budgets, we offer a range of 8- and 10-week tutoring and support options, along with extended options for those who are working and studying or who face other challenges. Contact us to learn more and set up a call to discuss your needs.
Our job isn’t just to tell you how to do it — it is to give you the tools to succeed!
We cannot be in the exam room with you. You are the only one who can produce winning results on exam day. We see our role as empowering you by giving you the skills necessary to be the best exam-taker you can be.
- You will feel confident that you know what a good essay looks like.
- You will be confident you know what a good performance exam essay looks like.
- You will have your plan of how to attack an essay or performance exam.
- You will even have a plan if you don’t remember the law!
If you’re interested in California tutoring, please contact us to set up a complimentary call to discuss what might be helpful.
We look forward to hearing from you!
California Bar Exam Courses and Tools
If you’re not sure full tutoring is right for you, check out our economical California bar exam courses and tools.
California Bar Exam Self-Study Program
The Bar Exam Toolbox team developed the Self-Study Program to help you manage your own study without buying an expensive commercial bar review course, which may not even suit your personal needs.
We’ve taken the knowledge gained from 9+ years of helping bar studiers find bar exam success and created this program with tools and resources to help you formulate your bar exam study plan, learn the substantive law, write passing essays and performance tests, and keep your cool on test day.
Want to learn more? Click here for all the details on the California Self-Study Program.
California Writing of the Week (WOW) Workshop
If you’re taking the California bar exam, you know you need to practice, right? Easier said than done, unfortunately! Best intentions aside, most people who fail the California bar exam didn’t practice their essay writing consistently enough.
That’s why we’ve developed the California Writing of the Week (WOW) program — to ensure accountability and make sure you’re writing consistently during your bar prep.
The California WOW program will help ensure you do at least one hour of practice essays a week for the eight weeks leading up to the bar exam. The substantive essays cover a variety of commonly-tested topics, from Torts and Contracts to Community Property and Professional Responsibility, along with three bonus essay on heavily-tested topics.
In five of the eight weeks, you’ll also get a performance test to work on. The Writing of the Week program has been updated to reflect the new format of the California bar exam. All PT practice tracks the new 90-minute California performance test.
That’s a total of 16 writing assignments (11 substantive essays + 5PTs) and more than 18 hours of writing practice.
Definitely a lot of very good structured practice, which can help you get the results you want on exam day!
Want to learn more? Click here for all the details on WOW California.
California Brainy Bar Bank
The Brainy Bar Bank is your one-stop shop for California bar exam practice questions. The BBB makes it quick and easy to find what you want, whether that’s working on a specific topic or practicing a heavily-tested area.
Practice is critical. But targeted practice is even more important. Instead of just doing questions randomly, you want to ensure you’re focusing on the most commonly-tested areas and on your personal weak spots.
The California Brainy Bar Bank collects over 15 years of real California bar exam essay questions, more than 180 questions total. Each essay question is categorized by area of law (Torts) and one or more topics and subtopics (Intentional Torts: Assault and Battery).
You’ll also receive free access to the Multistate Performance Test Brainy Bar Bank when you register for the California BBB. The MPT BBB gives you access to 60 practice performance tests (a $65 value), for free!
You can browse by category areas, topics, and subtopics, mark your favorites, view the most- to least-commonly tested areas/topics/subtopics, and easily keep track of which questions you’ve recently seen.
Want to learn more? Click here for all the details on the California Brainy Bar Bank.
(Please note that you can combine the California Brainy Bar Bank and the California WOW program and save!)
Who’s Behind This?
Lee is an experienced bar exam tutor, and created Amicus Tutoring in 2009 to help students find success on the California bar exam. She’s also served as adjunct faculty at several Bay Area law schools, teaching classes on the bar exam and on law school skills.
In her years of working with bar exam retakers, Lee has seen every problem in the book, and she’s learned to identify the issues that most commonly cause people to fail the California bar exam.
You can find out more about Lee and Alison here.
Got a Question?
We’re always happy to help! If you’re not sure what would be a good fit for you (or if you have some other question), just email us.
We’d love to hear from you!
